Grand National winner Silver Birch retired

Silver Birch, winner of the 2007 John Smith's Grand National, has been retired following his run at Aintree last week.

The 13-year-old bowed out after completing the course in 12th place in the John Smith's Topham Chase on Friday after only being a reserve for the big race itself.

Connections feel it is the right time to call time on his career and the Gordon Elliott-trained gelding will spend his days at owner Brian Walsh's Rheindross Stud in Kilcock, County Kildare. "He's been great. He's won a Grand National for me and I hope he has a happy retirement now," said County Meath-based Elliott. "We won't forget the day he won the National for a while. He's been a great horse - he won a Grand National and was second at the Cheltenham Festival."

Walsh bought Silver Birch for £20,000 at the Doncaster Sales in May 2006 after he suffered an injury in the Grand National the previous month. Up to that point he had been trained by Paul Nicholls, winning the Becher Chase and the Welsh National in 2004.

Silver Birch won seven of his 29 starts under rules and more than £500,000 in prize money.

Ruby Walsh sidelined for at least eight weeks

Ruby Walsh will be out for at least two months as he recovers from a broken arm sustained from a fall in Saturday's Aintree Hurdle.

The leading jockey was taken to hospital after Celestial Halo crashed out, at which stage he was then kicked by Won In The Dark. He missed riding Big Fella Thanks in the Grand National and returned home to Ireland that evening.

Walsh went to see his orthopaedic surgeon on Monday morning and his sister and agent Jennifer said: "He went to see (surgeon) Bill Quinlan this morning. The arm is in plaster and he is going to be out for eight to 10 weeks."

More Injury Woe for Mark Bradburne

Mark Bradburne will undergo a scan to discover the extent of the damage to one of the vertebrae in his spine. The jockey, who has suffered a pretty bad run with injuries over the years, was unseated from his mother Sue's Soldiers Tree in the Third Time Lucky Novices' Hurdle at Kelso on Sunday and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Bradburne's agent Russ James said: "He has fractured the T6 veterbrae. We don't know if it is a stable or unstable fracture so he will have a scan to find out. At the moment he is in a neck brace in hospital and he is lying flat on his back."

Injury rules Silver By Nature out of Scottish Grand National

This Saturday's Coral Scottish National has suffered a second blow with the loss of Silver By Nature from a leg injury.

"Silver By Nature has chipped a bone at the back of his knee," the trainer told her website."He is lame and Hugh Sommerville our vet thinks that he needs six weeks box rest then a summer out at grass."

With the top-two ruled out, Ferdy Murphy's Poker Di Sivola, about whom there are no stamina doubts or going concerns, is one who leaps off the page and it will be interesting to see how the betting now shapes up when the five-day declarations are out later today.

Meanwhile, Howard Johnson and his family are recovering this morning after an armed robbery at their County Durham stables last night.

Today's best bets, by Will Hayler

The concept of horses having a separate official rating for turf and all-weather racing seems to have gradually been abandoned in recent years, although there are odd exceptions to the rule. When he was last seen on turf at Yarmouth last September, Onceaponatime was racing off a mark of 68. Since then he has found a much-improved level of form on the all-weather, running no less than 21 times in the meantime, winning three races and making the first three on another 10 occasions.

With his all-weather handicap mark having now gone up to 85, the handicapper could in theory have kept him down on 68 or lower on the turf or made the presumption that the horse's recent improvement will be replicated upon his return on grass and raised his turf mark accordingly. Instead, he has compromised by putting him up to 75, a rating from which I fancy Onceaponatime (3.50) should be able to do some damage at Windsor today, especially at a stage of the season where his race fitness should give him a notable advantage.

He is by no means a straightforward ride, being a powerful traveller who doesn't want to hit the front too soon as he tends to down tools, but Jamie Spencer tends to execute the tactics better than most on this type of horse and he looks a decent bet at the generally-available 5-1 today.

Tipping competition - a new week

Congratulations to Slicker66, the winner of last week's competition. His prize was a £50 bet on the National, which he placed as £25 each-way on State Of Play, so a pleasing cheque will soon be on its way!

In the week of the Craven Stakes, this week's prize seems apt - it's a copy of the Racing & Football Outlook's Flat Guide 2010, in which those dedicated folks at the RFO preview the new Flat season. With close to 200 pages packed with stats, facts and opinion, it's a brilliant way to reintroduce yourself to the summer game.

As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. For terms and conditions click here. Good luck!